[OT] Struts / JSTL fmt:formatDate / Tomcat 4.1.24 lethal concocti on

["PILGRIM, Peter, FM" <Pe...@rbos.com>]

WARNING: I have just found out that the <fmt:formatDate/> is broken.

I got a Struts application which uses the JSTL FMT FormatDate tag
in a HTML Table. The Standard Taglib 1.0.3 appears to be broken
when used with Tomcat 4.1.24. I get repeated values and I have
checked the database I/O and action form code with JDeveloper 9.0.3 
debugging. I looked into the implementation of the `FormatDateTag'.
Nothing wrong there, then I looked into the actual JSP / Class.
and found that Tomcat Jasper generates JSP using a custom tag 
reuse Pool. This appears to be culprit, because I cannot reproduce 
the error with Oracle 9iAS or with Resin. 

In the JSPC code I see the tag pool is initialised in _jspInit() 
and then released in `_jspDestroy()'. Effective the `Tag.release()'
is only called in the `_jspDestroy()'. I tried doctoring some of
the code in the `doEndTag()'

public void doEndTag() {
    ...

    patternEL="";
}

just for that particular `FormatDateTag'. It did not work. Not
sure if there is work around for JSTL.

I realise that this is not really Struts issue, but ...

--
Peter Pilgrim,
Struts/J2EE Consultant, RBoS FM, Risk IT
Tel: +44 (0)207-375-4923


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RE: [OT] Struts / JSTL fmt:formatDate / Tomcat 4.1.24 lethal concoction

[Joseph Fifield <jf...@programmerplanet.org>]

> In the JSPC code I see the tag pool is initialised in _jspInit() 
> and then released in `_jspDestroy()'. Effective the 
> `Tag.release()' is only called in the `_jspDestroy()'. 

Exactly. This is all that's guaranteed by the spec. This is explained at
http://jakarta.apache.org/taglibs/guidelines.html. Specifically, these
points may point to the problem:

* release() is not necessarily called between invocations, which means
that tag logic should not count on private invocation-specific state
being reset by release()

* doEndTag() is not necessarily called at the end of every invocation
(in cases of abnormal termination -- e.g., an exception thrown inside a
tag's body or by one of its methods)

* private invocation-specific state is thus best initialized in
doStartTag()


Joe




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